BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Mar. 24, 2017) – Opening Southern Athletic Association (SAA) play today, the Millsaps College men's tennis team kicked off the conference season in a big way, defeating defending co-regular season conference champion and No. 13 regionally ranked Birmingham-Southern College, 5-4. Sophomore Davis Plummer (Richardson, Texas) had a hand in a pair of wins for the Majors, including the match-clincher in his No. 4 singles contest.
 
Birmingham-Southern (4-4, 0-1 SAA) scored first with an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles. Millsaps (15-4, 1-0 SAA) came right back with the No. 4 regionally ranked duo of Plummer and Alex Centurion (Portland, Ore.) winning at No. 1, 8-5. Another close match at No. 3 went the way of the Panthers, 9-8 (2), to give them a 2-1 advantage going to singles.
 
Centurion evened the match at 2-all with his 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 2. The two teams traded the next two decisions, with Jacob Weinacker taking a 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 1 over junior Diego Marti-Vertiz (San Louis Potosi, Mexico) and sophomore Henry Friedler (New Orleans, La.) taking a 7-5, 6-4 triumph at No. 3 to make it 3-3.
 
Friedler's win was the start of three straight that gave Millsaps the victory. At No. 6 Josh Shearin (Cordova, Tenn.) dropped his first set but came back to win, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 before Plummer won another three-setter in a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win that clinched it.
 
Millsaps will return home for a pair of non-conference matches on Sunday, hosting the University of the Ozarks and Louisiana College starting at 9:00 a.m.